Description

"No historian of Texas has more eloquent paragraphs."

[Texas Republic] William Kennedy.Texas:The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the Republic of Texas. In
Two Volumes. London: R. Hastings, 1841. First edition. Two 8vo
volumes. lii, 378; vi, 548 pp. Bound in three-quarter morocco,
raised bands and gilt lettering and designs on the spines. Marbled
paper over boards; marbled endpapers. Two folding maps and one
full-page map. Very light toning and foxing throughout. Very
good.

The folding frontispiece map is John Arrowsmith's Map of Texas,
compiled from Surveys recorded in the Land Office of Texas, and
other Official Surveys, by John Arrowsmith, Soho Square, London
[Seals of the Republic of Texas and the General Land Office].
Recognized as an Independent State by Great Britain 16th Novr.
1840. 24" x 20". The map has a publication date of April 17,
1841. Towards the bottom of the map are three areas circled in ink
by a previous owner. "Colony No. 1" (on the left bank of the
Nueces, and continuing a bit to the north), and "Colony No. 2" and
"Colony No. 3" (both regions on the banks of the Rio Grande del
Norte, on the Texas side). Of Arrowsmith's map, Jenkins, in his
Basic Texas Books, writes that it "ranks with those of
Tanner and Emory as the best maps of Texas during the period of the
republic. It is a monument of Texas cartography, but apparently was
included in only a portion of the copies of the original edition,
as only a small percentage of surviving copies contain it." The
second folding map, facing page 336, is a Map of the Republic of
Texas and the Adjacent Territories, Indicating the Grants of Land
Conceded under the Empresario System of Mexico. 16" x 13".

Considered the single best work on early Texas, Kennedy's
publication covers the geography and natural features of Texas as
well as its history during the revolution and early years of the
Republic. Kennedy later went to Galveston as the British consul
there and did a great deal to encourage European emigration. Many
of the basic documents of the revolution saw their first European
publication in these volumes, and Kennedy's work has been lauded by
historians and collectors alike. Per Raines: "This book was
pronounced to be the best history of Texas extant. The Texan
Congress passed a resolution of thanks to the author. The physical
description of Texas [is] the best published up to that time. No
historian of Texas has more eloquent paragraphs."
References:Basic Texas Books 117. Graff 2308. Howes
K92. Raines, pp. 132-133. Sabin 37440. Streeter 1385.

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We had a wonderful time in New York during the October 2013 Historical Manuscripts auction that featured my mother’s papers collected during her tenure as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s secretary. In fact, the entire experience from beginning to end has been a pleasure.
Howard Ballou,Brandon, MS